Many people who have known me over the years don’t know I went to an Ivy League university and planned to become a doctor. Not only was I totally turned off by chemistry, and not only would I likely never had made it through pre-med classes let alone made it into med school. But something that totally turned me off from wanting to be on the pre-med path I was on at the time was when a professor made the students learn the parts of a starfish. What did starfish have to do with becoming a doctor? That starfish assignment was the end of it all for me. The end of wanting to become a doctor anyway!
When I look back at my life, there were countless times I was totally off course. I was on the wrong pathway so much of the time. Before I believed in the Lord, and even once I came to believe in Him but wasn’t yet totally devoted to Him, I was so often headed in the wrong direction. I am so thankful to God today that He had a plan all along for me and that He guided me over time onto the right pathway. His pathway for me.
There are no starfishes on my pathway now. No pre-med. No med school. No being a doctor. No lots of other things I thought would be part of my future. The Lord lovingly and mercifully redirected me to where I am today. Totally His. Doing what He created me to do. Loving and serving Him with all my heart in my life and ministry.
Let us be thankful for all the love and care and patience God has with us as He directs us to and down the pathway He has created us to walk down. And let us be thankful for any and all redirecting He does throughout the course of our lives. Let us be thankful for His leading. Let us be thankful for His will for us. Let us be thankful for His purpose for us. Let us be thankful for His love for us. Let us be thankful for the path He sets us upon.
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” Psalms 23:1-3 KJV
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV